


let me take your coat off, and this weight off your shoulders

by lilaclavenders



Series: all of this turbulence wasn’t forecasted [7]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam (Voltron) Lives, Adam/Coffee until Shiro comes back, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Reunion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:02:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26489122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilaclavenders/pseuds/lilaclavenders
Summary: “So... what are you doing up so late, Adam?”“Well,” Adam begins, determined to keep his eyes on his tracker pad, “For starters, Takashi, you’re an absolute asshole.”“How did you know it was me?” Takashi asks, like the idiot he is, as if Adam would forget his voice that easily.Adam and Shiro see each other again, and they’re both tired.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Background Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: all of this turbulence wasn’t forecasted [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922935
Comments: 7
Kudos: 148





	let me take your coat off, and this weight off your shoulders

**Author's Note:**

> title taken from two - sleeping at last
> 
> i am very much enjoying snarky but secretly soft adam and soft but secretly snarky shiro
> 
> i will correct any mistakes tomorrow bc it is 4am rn

Shiro walks at a brisk pace down the Red Lion, and warmly smiles. “ _Ah_ , Commander Iverson, it’s great to be back.”

“Welcome back, Officer Shirogane,” Iverson stammers, “I- _Uh_ , apologise for my earlier actions- putting you in quarantine-“

“ _Oh_ ,” Coran says, narrowing his eyes. “That was you?” 

“Uh,” Shiro distractedly says, whilst looking over Iverson’s shoulder, “It’s okay, you were just doing your job.”

Iverson knowingly smiles. “It was a bit difficult informing everyone about your arrival at 3am, but I do know that certain people are usually awake at this time, working in the main operations room.” He adds, “Of course, we are all aware of our time constraints, but we can debrief after you’ve all rested.”

Shiro quickly nods and salutes, “Thank you, uh, Sir.” Then he politely walks off, trying to ignore the other Paladins’ curious gazes.

“You know,” Iverson’s voice echoes, “that man had the _audacity_ to tell me to shut up as I was telling him Voltron had arrived, but apparently my breathing was too loud for him to concentrate.” He huffs, “He  was in the middle of his 8th mug of coffee and still thinks I don’t know he’s rifling through my stash.”

“Wow,” Keith says. “Last time I saw Adam, the most he would have would be 5 mugs a day, and that was only on his most stressful days.”

“Ah,” Lance replies, “So, on the days he taught you- _Ow_ , Keith!” Lance rubs his arm in the area Keith had hit him, but Keith exasperatedly sighs, grabs his free hand and lightly squeezes it, a silent apology.

The remaining paladins laugh, and Shiro turns the corner and runs until he can no longer hear them.

* * *

Adam’s practically living in the main control room these days, and to everyone else, he’s been accounting for every possible outcome his MFE pilots and Voltron will face, coming up with back up plans, and back up plans for those back up plans and henceforth. But all Adam’s really doing is imagining all the scenarios where he can make Takashi speechless for once. It’s all he can think about.

“Hello?” A muffled voice shyly asks from behind the door, and Adam quickly exhales in surprise, broken from his trance.

“Uh,” Adam says, waving his hand even though the windows are only transparent on his side. “You can come in, you know, I won’t bite.”

There’s a moment of relived laughter and Adam rolls his eyes as the door swings open.

“So... what are you doing up so late, Adam?”

“Well,” Adam begins, determined to keep his eyes on his tracker pad, “For starters, _Takashi_ , you’re an absolute asshole.”

“How did you know it was me?” Takashi asks, like the idiot he is, as if Adam would forget his voice that easily.

“People usually come in to bring me coffee, and even then, they don’t talk to me - they just leave it on the table and run away,” Adam nonchalantly replies, and he finally gains the courage to take a quick look up at Takashi. “You know, I am surprised, I thought you would’ve wanted a cliché reunion, running down the hallways and sweeping me off my feet- We can do that with an audience if you give me a minute to make an announcement.” He gestures at the announcement system on the control board.

“No- I just wasn’t sure about... all this,” Takashi admits, gesturing vaguely. “We weren’t exactly on the... best of terms before it all happened.”

“I’m still wearing this, aren’t I?” Adam replies, showing Takashi the engagement ring, held close to his chest by a silver chain hanging on top of his uniform. No one had dared question him about it since Takashi had been declared dead, and so he’s kept it on display ever since, a walking reminder of the Garrison’s biggest failures.

“You kept it all this time?” Takashi asks, again, because although he is leading an intergalactic war, as the universe’s last hope, he is also hopeless and Adam is on his wit’s end.

“Mhm,” Adam says, and he finally gets up to walk over to Takashi and takes a good look at him, and he does this long sigh.

Takashi bites his lip in this infuriating way that makes Adam lose all of his focus, because it’s all different now, because Takashi’s had a long journey and there’s things Adam hasn’t witnessed. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

Adam scoffs, “Is this a debrief?” He gets up to stroke Takashi’s face, and is disheartened by how hollow his cheekbones are, and he gives him a feather light peck. He whispers, cradling Takashi’s cheek with one hand, “Okay, I’ll play along... This might be a tricky question, but can you tell me if you still love me?” He tucks some of Takashi’s hair out of his face and tries to stifle a grin.

“Yes,” Takashi replies in quiet laughter, his nose scrunching up as he shakes his head with disbelief. He smiles so softly, and his eyes crinkle at the corners as he says with conviction, “Of course... of course I still love you.”

“Then, that’s all I want to know,” Adam cooly declares. “Well, at least for now,” he pointedly looks at Takashi’s missing arm.

“Okay,” Takashi softly laughs. “Well, what about you?” Takashi slyly asks, gently nudging Adam with his foot. “Do you still love me?”

“Don’t be an ass, Takashi,” Adam scolds. “I’ve waited for about six years for you to come back, I can make you wait for longer.”

Takashi’s laugh is a wonderful thing, it rumbles from his stomach, and makes his shoulders shake and head tilt back, and he does it so much that Adam cries, and lets him blame it on the coffee and sleep deprivation. Apparently, too much of a good thing is bad.

“Do you wanna go to bed?” Adam finally asks. “I’m having a crash from all this caffeine and I feel jittery.”

“Hm, those words are music to my ears,” Takashi sighs in delight, his voice velvety smooth. “Not the feeling jittery part, though, I think we’ll need to talk about your coffee consumption in the morning.”

“It’s already morning, you dipshit,” Adam cackles, “Though... I see you’ve perfected your Dad voice while you were away - it goes with your hair, old man.”

“That’s what happens when you’re stuck with Keith in a space castle.” Adam can feel his heart swell and eyes water again as Takashi snickers.

Adam had always compared Takashi to astar, the kind that’s born to die a poetic, heroic death, under the pressures and moral obligations he put himself under. He’s always heard from everyone that Takashi’s like the one of a kind deal that you’ll miss if you blink, someone whose legacy will outlive them forever. 

Perhaps Adam was right, and Takashi is a burning star, because this Takashi isn’t the same one that left the Earth year ago. Instead, the one that came home is a little worn, a little tired, and Adam suspects he has trouble sleeping these days, but God he still burns just as brightly, and Adam loves him just the same, if not more.


End file.
